The communities secretary, Eric Pickles, has approved plans to bury 250,000 tonnes of radioactive waste at the East Northants landfill site near Peterborough. The plan was refused by Northamptonshire county council but Pickles upheld the appeal by hazardous waste disposal company Augean. The move was met with outrage among people living in Northamptonshire. In a local poll, 98% of residents voted against dumping the waste. Campaigners Kings Cliffe Waste Watchers said: "In overturning the decision of the county council, and the wishes of all local government organs, he [Ed Pickles] has hardly demonstrated the level of commitment expected from one who is trying to steer localism". The department for communities and local government defended the move. "This is an existing landfill site which handles hazardous waste," it said. "Having considered all the evidence and representations, the minister has accepted the expert planning advice that granting a temporary planning permission for additional waste would not be harmful to the local community."

A bank employee stands next to anti-G8 protesters as they occupy a bank during a demonstration in the city of Le Havre, western France, Thursday, May 26 claiming that banks finance nuclear weapons and energy. G8 leaders, in a two-day meeting in Deauville, will discuss the Internet, aid for North African states and ways in which to end the conflict in Libya. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

﻿PARIS — Police on Thursday detained some 100 people protesting against the Group of Eight summit in a Normandy ressort.

Officers also prevented protests in Paris and other French cities aimed to coincide with the two-day summit that brings together leaders of the world’s richest nations at the northern resort town of Deauville.

Some of the demonstrators were searched with their hands against a wall before being led into police vans.

A smaller group of around a dozen protesters managed to get inside the Paris offices of credit rating agency Standard & Poors, but left peacefully after handing out pamphlets.